This is the time of year that people make New Year’s resolutions. People like the idea of starting over, of having a fresh start and a clean slate. This gives them more of a motivation to pursue and work on their goal. Linda-Ann shares some tips on how you can take advantage of this opportunity and be successful at it all year long.

Transcript:

Thank you for joining me. I’m Linda-Ann Stewart of Heartvision Consulting. This is the time of year that people make New Year’s resolutions. They establish the goals they want to achieve in the coming year. Have you made any? People like the idea of starting over, of having a fresh start. This gives them more of a motivation to pursue and work on their goal.

For instance, I remember being in first grade and the cubbyhole in my desk that was supposed to hold my books was crammed with papers. I was not a very tidy child. It was hard to get my books into it. Sometime during the year, our teacher changed our desk assignments, and I was given a desk with a clean and clear cubbyhole. I remember looking at the shelf, enjoying how clean it was and deciding to keep it organized from then on. And I did. I just needed the incentive of a fresh start and a clean slate.

Has anything like this happened to you? Have you ever felt stimulated by a fresh start? Moving to a clean desk can inspire it, as can New Year’s, your birthday, the beginning of the month, or even the beginning of the week. Any of these can give you a new perspective and increased energy.

What about a clean slate? With a clean slate, you feel like you can leave behind your old ways. You can establish a new habit or pattern, like I did with the desk. But the problem is, how much are you leaving behind? It wouldn’t have worked for me if I’d just repeated my habit of stuffing papers into my desk. I decided to change that habit. How much of a clean slate are you actually starting with? Are you bringing outdated ideas with you and holding yourself back? Or are you really starting fresh?

As a vision strategist. I work with women service professionals and small business entrepreneurs who have businesses that are stuck. Instead of updating their goals, or even having any, they just continue with their old habits and patterns. And then they become frustrated because this doesn’t help them reach their next level.

Using my 30 years of experience as a hypnotherapist, I coach them to intentionally develop and focus on new strategies that will get them on course to bring their vision into reality. I help them reevaluate where they are and where they want to go, and then how to get there.

Are you reassessing your goals? Do your old ones serve you now, in what you want to achieve? What if you do start with a clean slate? Without taking into account your previous goals, and any limiting ideas, consider what it is you really want. Wipe away any disappointments, fears or past mistakes.

Maybe you can set a bigger goal than you ever expected. Have a bigger goal or vision or intention than you normally would think of. When you start with a fresh start and a clean slate, it reinvigorates you. You get excited and eager to make progress on your decisions.

Now, I don’t suggest you start over with an absolutely clean slate at the beginning of every week, essentially starting over from scratch. This would undermine your progress. You’d never really achieve anything, would you? But you can assess if the direction you’re going is the right one for you. If the strategies you’re using are working. If there’s something else that needs to be adjusted.

Each week, with a fresh start, you recommit to your goals. With a clean slate, you wipe away what wasn’t working, and decide what to do that will achieve your goals. You refocus and get reenergized to take action. It gives you a new beginning, one that can motivate and inspire you to tackle what’s ahead.

In first grade, my fresh start was getting moved to a new desk. My clean slate was the empty shelf and my decision to keep it organized. What is yours going to be?